It was probably for the best then that his Lordship was otherwise occupied looming outside Skywalker's bacta tank like a particularly annoyed spectre he decided. If he got wind of the fact there was currently a betting pool on the lower decks regarding whether Skywalker was a deep cover agent, the Emperor's illegitimate son, Lord Vader's new Sith Apprentice or even his lover according to some particularly brave folks, he was pretty sure heads would roll. Quite literally.
— Narration, Chapter 2, "Second Time"
Compromising
is a Star Wars fanfic written by samvelg
. It is currently archived-locked, so it is only accessible to Archive of Our Own users with an account.
The fic takes the general premises of fanfics where Luke is captured by Darth Vader and brought aboard the Executor, and asks what the crew are thinking of Vader's obsessive quest for Luke Skywalker in said fics. The answer is a Lower-Deck Episode told from the perspective of Admiral Firmus Piett as the crew of the Executor misunderstand the nature of Luke and Vader's explanations and arrive at outrageous conclusions.
Compromising provides examples of:
- Alternate Universe Fic: This fic branches off sometime after The Empire Strikes Back; due to his kidnapping, the Skywalker father and son are able to bond a bit more easily and plot to overthrow the Emperor sometime in the future.
- Apology Gift: After several rather intense and emotional arguments, Vader decides to gift Luke a brand-new TIE Advanced starfighter, the same model as his own. It's more justified by the fact that both of them are Ace Pilots.
- Badass Adorable: Luke is generally polite, affectionate, and sweet enough for even his nominal enemies to be endeared by him, with the author describing him to be a "cinnamon roll". Still an Ace Pilot with an astronomically high body count and a prominent figure in La Résistance.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Piett is one to Darth Vader, due to constantly walking in on his shenanigans with Luke. He eventually has to let Luke, nominally still their enemy and a prisoner of war, roam the Executor pretty much freely, causing him to feel even more like "he was functionally the most highly ranked babysitter in the Empire" than usual. The fic tags aptly describe him as being "so done" with everything.Insert the long-suffering Piett who just wants to get on with keeping his ship running smoothly so they can enjoy all the nice happy space!fascism, but instead gets ringside seats to the eternal shitshow that is Skywalker Family Drama.
- Bridal Carry: Vader carries Luke this way after rescuing him from being tortured at the beginning of the fic. It's one of many factors that cause the crew of the Executor to get the completely wrong idea about their relationship.
- Cluster F-Bomb: The first of one of many of the Skywalkers' arguments in Chapter 4 involves both father and son cursing at each other in Huttese "worse than an Outer Rim spice smuggler". Piett's emphasis on propriety allows for a Narrative Profanity Filter, though.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Luke is subjected to torture twice in the story, once through splinter factions in the Rebellion (actually orchestrated by the Emperor) and once through the Emperor.
- Color Failure: After Leia asks Vader something (presumably why Luke is so important to him), Vader's response (presumably that Luke is his son) causes Leia to turn pale.
- The Comically Serious: Despite being placed in the role of a Beleaguered Assistant, Piett is so determined to remain formal and polite — even in the privacy of his own mind — that how seriously he takes everything adds an extra layer of comedy to the fic.The author: (replying to a comment) You know the crew (especially the troopers) were a lot more crass when discussing everything, but I seriously headcanon that Piett is so determined to be proper even in the privacy of his own mind that he used terms like bethrothed [sic] and physical logistics instead of what was actually said. Which ends up ultimately making it even funnier because he comes across as just so SCANDALISED by it all XD
- Crack Fic: The fic is tagged "Crack Treated Seriously" for a reason. While on the surface, Compromising seems like your average fic of Luke Skywalker being captured by Darth Vader and brought aboard the Executor, what makes it stand out in its absurdity is how the story is told from the perspective of Admiral Firmus Piett, and instead focuses on how the two Skywalkers' mostly affectionate relationship is broadcast to an outsider's perspective who doesn't know that they're related, resulting in the crew completely misinterpreting the context of the situation, to the point even the most heated Skywalker Family Drama caused by it all is mostly Played for Laughs.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Luke wears dark-colored clothes while on the Executor. Still a good li'l Jedi Rebel, through and through.
- Data Pad: Someone on the bridge of the Executor drops one after Luke bursts out laughing in Chapter 3.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title refers to Luke and Vader's plans/goals regarding the Emperor as much as it refers to the many intimate moments between Luke and Vader that Piett witnesses.
- Dramatic Drop: In Chapter 3, someone on the bridge of the Executor drops a data pad after Luke bursts into laughter at what is implied to be a telepathic joke.
- Entertainingly Wrong: The initial betting pool on the Executor wonders whether Luke is a deep cover agent (not quite), the Emperor's illegitimate son (close), Darth Vader's new Sith Apprentice (incorrect, though not really for lack of trying), or his lover (very incorrect).
- Evil Is Deathly Cold: Downplayed, when Vader learns of Luke's kidnapping in Chapter 1, the temperature noticeably drops (presumably due to Vader's Force abilities).
- Face Death with Dignity: Piett is "strangely calm at the thought of his imminent demise" after getting caught up in the crew's speculation of Vader's personal life.
- "Five Things" Fic: Five times Piett misunderstands the relationship between Luke and Darth Vader and the one time he doesn't.
- Foreign-Language Tirade: Vader and Luke argue in Huttese four times throughout Chapter 4 and have a shouting match in Amatakka, the latter culminating in Luke breaking down crying.
- Fun with Foreign Languages: Due to Dramatic Irony, the most pertinent misunderstandings in the fic could have been resolved (or at least alleviated) earlier had anyone else known that "Ipa" is Amatakka for "Dad".
- Gossipy Hens: While their genders are unstated, the crew of the Executor are quite eager to gossip and speculate about their boss' surprisingly intimate relationship with their latest prisoner of war, to Piett's frustration whenever the crew being too preoccupied with fuelling the rumour mill interferes with their work.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Piett starts thinking about his bottle of Corellian whiskey after witnessing a number of interactions between Luke and Vader that could be considered scandalous.
- Internal Reveal: The news that Luke is Vader's son is certainly news to Piett when he finds out about it in the last chapter, and drives most of the Dramatic Irony behind the Executor crew's Relative Error.
- Little "No": Vader simply reacts with a quiet "No" when he can no longer sense Luke in the Force in Chapter 6, before quickly following it up with a Big "NO!".
- Lower-Deck Episode: The fic is focused on Firmus Piett and the crew of the Executor. In canon, they were minor characters.
- Married to the Job: Piett considers himself such, reasoning that relationships would lead to distractions.
- Mistaken for Gay: Overlapping with Relative Error. Because of a lack of information, the entirety of personnel aboard the Executor assume that Luke is Vader's lover rather than his son. Hilarity Ensues.
- Mythology Gag: "Help me, Darth Vader, you're my only hope."
- Narrative Profanity Filter: Due to how seriously Piett takes his job, his narration reiterates his underlings' increasingly crass speculations about his boss and their enemy-on-board's relationship in much more polite language. His (relative) lack of understanding of Huttese and Amatakka also mean that the Skywalkers' fairly vulgar arguments are left untranslated, though a summary of what's discussed is provided by Word of God.
- One-Word Title: The fic's title is Compromising.
- Power Nullifier: In Chapter 6, Luke gets saddled with an inhibitor collar that cuts him off from the Force. Vader remarks that such devices are not common across the galaxy.
- Rebel Prince: On a technicality. Chapter 6 reveals that by the laws of succession of the Empire, Luke is technically an Imperial Prince who's second in line to the throne… who's a Commander in La Résistance and completely disagrees with his father politically.
- Relative Error: The main premise of the fic, in that the crew of the Executor mistakes their boss' relationship with his son as romantic or sexual.
- Shipper on Deck: Pun intended, as the crew of the Executor increasingly speculate that Vader and Luke have something going on with them after witnessing their intimate interactions. Unfortunately for them, that 'something' is not romantic in nature at all.
- Shout-Out:
- Luke and Vader both speak Amatakka, a Conlang made by and for Fialleril's fan-works.
- Luke wears a half-cape in reference to Allegiance
by KaelinaLovesLomaris
.
- Sleep Deprivation Punishment: One of the torture techniques Luke was subjected to before the start of the fic is sleep deprivation.
- Sympathetic P.O.V.: The fic is told from the perspective of Piett, a man who is simultaneously fascist and long-suffering for having to deal with Skywalker Family Drama.
- That Came Out Wrong: Many of Luke and Vader's conversations are phrased in such a way that it adds to the Relative Error. It's played with in that neither of them realize that their conversations can come across as anything but platonic, and no one's about to tell them that either, out of fear of bringing upon "the largest mass Force choking event in recorded history"."Where else would I be making a scene exactly?" The boy said petulantly, still flailing and pouting up at the Dark Lord. "It's not like I can going anywhere else right now. And I don't care what you say, I will not be seduced!"
Oh stars, it was worse than the medbay. It was so much worse than the medbay. - Title Drop: In addition to Piett hoping that a "kata" is a Jedi thing and not something compromising, this occurs at the very end of the fic.Luke: What can I say? We're compromising.
- Villainous Rescue: Vader rescues Luke from being tortured at the beginning of the fic. Justified, given who's involved.
